October 6th & 7th

City of Flagstaff

A major city along the famous route 66, we spent a couple of days there visiting places in and around town. First stop was the visitor information centre, which was just next to the railway track, where a freight train zooms by almost every 15-20 minutes, and each one is long, taking almost over 3 minutes to cover its entire length.

Ever so enthusiastic about all modes of travel, the boys had a real kick out of the train passing by a few metres away, blaring it’s horns, and there’s something about the ‘click-clack’ of the train over the tracks that is very attractive, possibly mesmerizing to the observer.

We had lunch at one of the diners along the ‘Historic route’ and on our way back saw a number of fine looking Jaguars. Turns out, they were part of a Jaguar enthusiast group doing the R66 route from Chicago to LA. Apparently they had their Jaguars shipped to the US specially for this trip, and this is what we found on the web, 60 Britons to take on Route 66 in Jaguars . Our boys managed to speak to a few of the nice ladies from the group, to learn more about their trip, and how the cars were specially shipped from the UK to the US.

Apart from the buzz of the city,  there’s also Sunset Crater Volcano, where recent volcanic activity produced some unique landscapes.

We had a nice walk around the crater boardwalk before heading towards the Lowell Observatory, one of the oldest observatories around, for some star gazing.

En Route to Vegas

Next day, it was time to leave Arizona, as we made our way from Flagstaff to Las Vegas to catch a flight the following day. We made a slight detour out of highway 93 (I40) to cover a part of Route 66 through Seligman, Grand Canyon Caverns, Peach Springs, Truxton, and the city of Kingman, before rejoining the highway again.

It was fun seeing some ‘classic’/60’s structures, while some were pretty much run down due to age, the city of Kingman has kept the sights along the route well-maintained.

We pop by a recently refurbished diner for a lunch, jukebox and colourful seats were the main attraction, though we were given no choice on the songs being played on the jukebox, which was a bit of a shame, since we wanted to show the boys how it works. Still things work out fine as the 60s music played, and the ambience was pretty fun, and the food was good.

The road trip to Vegas was most interesting, with a mixture of towns and sights we’d so far not seen. And by the time we reached our hotel in Vegas, we were pretty much tired, but still managed to squeeze in time for some shows and games with the boys. Next stop, Houston, Texas.

October 5th

Leaving the Grand Canyon, we were off to Flagstaff to begin the next leg of the trip – visiting attractions other than National Parks. Flagstaff, being along the infamous ‘Route 66′, is a place the boys wanted to see, and there was also a period we had to convince that driving from Chicago to LA isn’t quite in our plans, nor does Radiator Springs exists.

First stop though, is something pink, on four wheels, and flies .. well almost. And it gave us a ride to remember!

Broken Arrow

We stopped over at Sedona to go on a Pink Jeep tour on the ‘Broken Arrow’. Seated and well-strapped down, we were on our way to the red rocks on a Pink-coloured 4×4 Jeep. And what a ride it was, visiting breath-taking sites and scenery, and learning about the local vegetation and geological structures along the way, it was a ride that no theme park can every reproduce (and the boys would know).

Every turn is a new challenge to try to remain seated, but it wasn’t about keeping one’s behind firmly on the seat, it was a ride with twists and turns, and driving up and down rocks and steps at angles that almost defy physics, we were stationary on slopes that would otherwise send any other vehicle toppling over, and at some point, Michael (our driver & guide), said ‘Look! No hands!’. YAHOO… the boys shouted.

It was a ride never to be forgotten, and we thanked the guide, and exchanged contact numbers and email addresses with our fellow travellers, a mother and daughter team

The boys are not exactly the ‘enjoy the scenery’ kind (so which kid is?). So there are Ranger activities to keep them interested, and places to see. On the first day, we took a drive east to Desert view to the Watch Tower for and work our way back into the rim walk near the lodge, followed by a Raptor watch talk by the HawkWatch International. Followed by taking the local shuttle to Yakki point to check out the sunset, where a Ranger as there to answer some questions as well. Some Elks were spotted on the way, which got the boys all excited on the shuttle.

Ranger Talks

Ranger Talks covers a variety of subjects, and in the Grand Canyon, is typically Geology, which the boys aren’t big fans of, but they do pick up a few information here and there about the Colorado River, the age of the rocks, and fossils. Yes, we went ‘fossil hunting’, down on all fours, and that got the boys interested.

Nothing grand like a dinosaur, or any major finds. You won’t get dinosaurs in the rocks, as the age of the rock around was way before the dinosaur period, but we do get some shellfish, oysters, coral. And the neat thing is, the erosion that’s still happening, will likely reveal even more new fossils in future.

Raptor Watch

QiXiu found a couple of new friends, at the Raptor Watch ranger talk, which we went to, twice, at two different locations. Besides learning more about his favourite raptors, we also had the opportunity to be at their ‘office’ to help them spot the birds. The second watch we went to was particularly rewarding, and we saw a good variety of raptors, local or migratory.

Here are some pictures of QiXiu with his friend, Jacob, and some raptors we spotted.

And at the end of the few days, the boys earned their Grand Canyon Junior Ranger’s badge and certificate.

We stayed at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, two days in the park itself, at Yavapai Lodge, and two days just outside the park.

It was a real eye opener. The scale of the canyon, from just where we stayed was enormous, and beyond imagination. And the layers of rock can be seen so clearly, it was, as someone we me at Yosemite put it, like someone had taken a knife, and cut the land in half, revealing the earth’s history all the way back a billion years ago, layered, one by one.

Most of these, done by the powerful forces of water, as rain falls and water from the top falls to the colorado river, it brings along sediments, and brings down boulders etc. And to this day, this continues, perhaps in a lesser extent, as the Glen Canyon Dam further upstream has controlled the more turbulent flow of the river. While all this is happening, it’s not difficult to conclude that the Grand Canyon is not going to be here forever, and pretty soon, everything will be gone. So it is recommend to go see it while you still can, before it is all flat…. in a few million years time, perhaps.

The canyon is not called grand for nothing, and to capture it on the camera standing at the rim itself, requires a few photos stitched together. Here’s one I created, from the Yavapai lookout at dawn, about 180 degree view, of the first light catching on the canyon.

And another at Sunset from Yakki point.

Bear in mind, this is only one part of the canyon, each viewpoint is very much different, and weather conditions creates different effects, giving the visitor a unique experience during each visit. Nothing man-made can ever reproduce such a sight.

Here’s a couple more views.

September 30th

Vegas

What a contrast from the past weeks! From National Parks to this. Besides Bryce and Zion, Las Vegas was also one of our stops as we drove from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon. We arrived at Vegas in the evening, and was overwhelmed by the big city atmosphere (actually, was more like the smoke in the casinos).

We took the free shuttle and went down ‘the strip’ to watch the bright lights and grand hotels (Casinos).

October 1st

En Route to The Grand Canyon – Hoover Dam

All that electricity to light up Vegas had to come from somewhere, and it came from the Hydro-Electric power station at the Hoover Dam. The enormous Dam is crossed by freeway 93, and midway is the State border between Nevada & Arizona, and was completed back in 1935, back then, it was the largest of it’s kind in the world.

Construction is currently underway to have a bypass freeway to ease on the traffic on the Dam itself, if you consider the amount of traffic over the two lane traffic on the Dam, this makes sense.

September 29th – 30th

Bryce Canyon National Park has one of the most unique landscapes of the places we visited, while the land is made up of pretty much the same set of layers, it’s the climate that causes the cracks and erosion to take place, and form the many ‘hoodoos’, and in fact, the landscape is still pretty much changing quickly (in geological terms, quick is in thousands and millions of years), and we can expect that at the current rate, it might all be gone one day.

And the Ranger provided an interesting talk on the geology and fossils found in the Grand Staircase, a huge region covering from Bryce Canyon, Zion until the Grand Canyon. Where the rock layers seem to be pushed up, allowing scientists to study and track the history of the earth in that region, all the way back to 1.5 Billion Years ago.

The boys weren’t too interested in geology talks, they would much prefer to be doing something, so a quick visit and we were on our way to Zion National Park. But not before mummy and daddy had some photos taken, and a good view of the landscape. This place is definitely worth a visit again someday.

Zion National Park

This park is home to a variety of landscape. Coming from Bryce (North), the landscape is marked by sandstone, a layer showing a period when there was a sandy desert present, and one can even make out the dunes, and wind directions from the shape and the line markings on the structures.

A great variety landscape within the park itself, we were all in awe as we drove through one entrance of the park to the next. In the middle was a long tunnel, that, at the other end, brought us to the next part of the National Park that had grand and vast cliffs and canyons.

A nice lunch on the picnic grounds, and a short hike, and we were on our way to the next stop before we reach the Grand Canyons. Heck, we even had time to get the kids to pick up rubbish and become junior rangers of the park

September 28

Driving along Highway 24, we made our way through Capitol Reef National Park and towards the Caineville Badlands, where we can see the landscape changes from the red to the greyish desert areas in a matter of just a few turns along the highway.

But first stop, we went to the Visitor Centre in the National Park, before heading to the apple orchards (Fruita), smack in the middle of some pretty dry landscape, thanks to a river. From the entrance, it didn’t seem like much, but a short walk into the orchard, and we found the apples, plenty of them, and we all had fun picking the apples and eating them in the orchard itself (consuming apples in the orchard is free). We picked a tree with nice sweet ones, ate some and bought some for the road trip. Yummy.

A drive along Highway 24 to Mesa Farm Market, an organic farm (in the middle of the Badlands) that produces great veggies and cheese, and serves excellent coffee. The Best Western we stayed in got it’s veggies from this farm, as well as several other restaurants in the region. We had our lunch there, veggie sandwiches, and bought some of the cinnamon rolls for later. The veggies were excellent, and tomatoes very sweet and delicious, and everyone lapped it up.

After lunch, it was time for a long drive back along Highway 24, and along the Scenic Drive to our next destination, Bryce National Park.

September 26-27

Over two days, we drove from West Yellowstone to Capitol Reef National Park. A pretty long stretch, but the family took it quite well…

At West Yellowstone, we stayed at the Alpine Inn Motel, which was great, clean rooms, and great owners, Brian & Patty. Even suggest good restaurants for dinner & breakfast. The li’l one was really tired out by the time we reached the motel the night before, so we settled for the Chinese restaurant next door. We have had no Chinese food since arriving in Utah, and this no doubt, tasted pretty good.

Breakfast, next day, before we headed out was at a place called running bear, that served pretty good pancakes and stuff. Good service, though do not expect fast food speeds, as they prepare their food fresh.

So off we drove towards Ogden to spend the night. Drive was long 3-4 hours (long for kids), and nothing much to see, or to stop for. And QiYang was using mummy’s camera to take pictures of his feet, and things around outside.

Ogden was a good place for a good sleep, before heading out to Torrey, next to Capitol Reef National Park. Where the scenery is such a contrast from what we had been seeing in the mountains a sign of things to come, as we approach a different climate and geographical features. A sign of something grand to follow soon.

At the Best Western Motel at Torrey, the boys headed straight for the TV for some Nascar action on TV. By now, the big one seem to have developed a taste of stock car racing, and, afterall, we were approaching an area where, perhaps, some landscape features were probably an inspiration for the Pixar movie, Cars.

September 25th evening.

Tonight we are spending our last night at Yellowstone (actually just outside Yellowstone) for this trip, tomorrow, we will move just away from the National Park and prepare for our next leg of the trip, that will bring us to places of quite different features and experience.

Yellowstone has brought to us many surprises and new experience that we never quite expected. With Geological features such as geysers, canyons, mountains, valleys, meadows, lakes and a wide variety of wildlife such as Elks, Antelopes, Bears, Wolf, Bison, Coyotes, the varied weather and the people we met; we have come to learn that it is a national park to cater to all the nature lovers.

Seven days, not quite enough to see the park, but enough to see what it can offer, and potentially offer. This is our first time at Yellowstone, and something says that it will likely not be our last. It has touched the hearts in each of us, and already, we are talking about our next trip back here, as if it’s just a short walk away instead of a possible over 20 hours flight from home. Nevertheless, we shall keep the plans and dreams of seeing more of Yellowstone in the future alive, and keep looking forward to our next visit. Thanks Yellowstone.

But wait, there’s more to come! We’re leaving Yellowstone, but there’s at least another big National Park to visit. And what is pink, and makes people scream, and better than a roller coaster?  Come again soon, and you will find out.

Old Faithful

Almost synonymous with the National Park itself, this Geyser’s eruption can be predicted, to within 10 minutes. The time between eruptions actually varies quite a fair bit, and is monitored by the park rangers, and an estimated time of the next eruption will be posted on the boards, give/take 10 minutes.

Each eruption is pretty much different as well, in terms of height, time, duration. We sat through two eruptions, and both are quite different. One was a straightforward eruption, and the other seem to have a number of false starts.

We stayed on and listened to the ranger’s talk, despite the cold evening weather.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Up in the North of Yellowstone is Mammoth Hot Springs. While the spring wasn’t exactly flowing rapidly, the whitish landscape gives it a very ‘out-of-this-world’ look. The white colour comes from the calcium carbonate deposits, and mammoth hot springs is the largest known calcium carbonate deposit spring.

The whole area covers a big area, with upper and lower terraces. The upper terrace is pretty much accessible up close by car, and seem to offer more photo opportunities, as it appeared rather ‘dry’ at the lower terrace.

Driving up to West Yellowstone

There are a good number of geothermal features to visit along the way North to West Yellowstone, our last stop before leaving Yellowstone.

The boys had a good time trying to the ‘rotten egg’ smell.